


Sweep the Dust From the Sunlight

by Hecate



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Handwaving, M/M, Not quite a fix-it, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-16 22:03:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13645329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hecate/pseuds/Hecate
Summary: The first time Tony and Steve see each other after Siberia, Tony saves Bucky's life.





	Sweep the Dust From the Sunlight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [boudour](https://archiveofourown.org/users/boudour/gifts).



There's a building, a building standing in the hail of alien weapons, there is a building and it's falling to pieces. And Bucky is on its roof.

Steve is standing on a street far below him, and he can't reach out for Bucky, can't grab his hand, can't pull him to safety. He can't do anything but watch as the building groans and shudders, Bucky a tiny dot on its breaking skin, stumbling and slipping.

There are voices on the comm, there's Sam cursing, and Steve knows that he, too, is too far away, knows that Wanda has no chance of reaching Bucky in time. He knows it, and still he hopes, because what else is there to do but to despair, and he can't allow that. Not yet, not ever.

Another explosion, fire running through the building, wild and fast. There is another tremor, too, debris raining down moments after, hitting the street with violent thuds, punches thrown by a dying giant. Steve moves back, has to, because he has no shield to protect himself and the serum could not save him, not from something like this.

For a moment, Steve can't see Bucky anymore.

Then he does, and he wishes he didn't.

Bucky is falling again.

Everything inside of Steve stops, and there's nothing but Bucky falling, no aliens and no fight, no city and no world. Just Bucky and his fall, time unravelling and pulling Steve back onto a train, into his worst nightmare. Bucky is falling, and all Steve can do is watch and think that maybe he can die with him this time, maybe he'll get that. 

Then, the glint of metal, a streak of gold and red, impossible speed and impossible hope. And it's fast enough, Iron Man has always been fast enough, and he grabs Bucky out of thin air. And Steve can breathe again, painful and stuttering, relief as sharp as a knife as he sees Iron Man with Bucky in his grip. _Tony_ with Bucky, and Steve just wants them both on the ground, wants them by his side.

Tony dives, drops Bucky when he is closer to the ground, and Steve watches Bucky hit the streets running, flinging himself behind the ruins of a statue, the rubble taking the artillery fire that was meant for him. The fight goes on. As if nothing had happened, as if Bucky didn't fall with no one there to reach out and hold on to him.

Steve pushes the horror of it away, forces himself back into the present. Looks around and sees Natasha with Clint, sees them slower than they usually are. Wanda's face is tight with exhaustion, the red flares of her magic dim. Bucky is still behind the statue, frowning. Somewhere in the sky, Tony and Sam.

"Okay," Steve says to himself, quietly. “Okay,” he yells into the comms. “Everybody find a spot to take a breather. These things aren't going down easy and we can't go on like this.”

Then, he whirls around, dives behind a car as another explosion rocks the street, filling the air with sound and fury. It's close, too close, and there's debris falling down on him again, dust and smoke filling his lungs, making him cough. He curses, forces himself up, and starts to run.

The ground keeps on shaking, the concrete under his feet ripping open like a wound, and Steve jumps, he lands, stumbling before catching himself, forcing himself to run faster, to ignore how exhausted he is. There is no place for that here and now.

“Cap,” he hears Clint on the comms, “they're targeting you.”

And of course they are, take out the leader, leave the troops to scatter. Not that it would work, not with his team, but the strategy is an easy choice, a logical one. He would have made it himself.

A familiar sound, crackling energy and power, and he's ripped off the ground, he's flying, and he holds on to Tony with easy familiarity. For a moment, he enjoys it, lets himself get lost in it, knowing that Tony would never let him fall, knowing that for a few seconds in the middle of the battle, he's almost safe.

Then, Tony drops him at the mouth of a tunnel, flickering light luring Steve in, telling him to walk further into it, to walk away from the mayhem. He stands still instead, waits.

“Hey,” he says when Tony finally lands next to him.

Tony doesn't reply, not yet, and Steve notices that it's so much quieter there, the explosions like drums of war, loud but lacking violence, only promising it. It's a charade, a lie, and Steve hates it.

"Thanks for the save," he says, looks at Tony, at the grim mask he always wears, and doesn't mention Bucky. "Could have gotten ugly."

The faceplate comes up then, and Tony is looking at him. “Rogers,” he says, and Steve knows him, knows how Tony sounds when he tries to hide he's hurt, that he's bitter, and Steve hates himself for knowing this but not knowing when to tell him about his parents.

“Good to see you,” he says to Tony. “Though the scenery could be better.”

A shrug, the edge of a smile. “Did Wakanda ruin you for New York?”

“Nothing could ruin me for New York,” Steve replies, and he thinks, _You knew where we were_ and _Of course you did_. Thinks, _And you didn't tell anyone to go after us._ Thinks, _You saved him_ , too, and there's a sharp joy in it, a relief that hurts.

Tony snorts.

"You okay, Cap?" Natasha asks, her voice distant through the comms.

"Yes," Steve replies. "Got a flight out of there."

Natasha sounds almost amused when she answers, hopeful. "Figured. Say hi to the pilot."

Steve looks at Tony, says, "Nat says hi".

Tony raises an eyebrow. 

Steve shrugs. "You know how she is."

Then he steps away from Tony, climbs on a car that got left behind in the panic and the chaos, tries to get some kind of idea what is going on.

"They're surrounding us," Tony says. "Trying to shoot us down, too."

"Yeah," Steve agrees. "We need to break through, get to the leader. If those things work the same as the Chitauri, that might help. And Thor thinks that they're at least related."

"Okay," Tony says, and it's almost scary that Tony still agrees to follow his plan, even after everything that happened. "Fill in the troops, Hannibal."

Steve nods, closes his eyes for just a moment, recalling the city's pattern, thinking of his team, their skills, their powers. Opens his mouth and lets the plan spill out, reckless and dangerous. 

Behind him, Tony chuckles. “You never get to criticise my ideas again,” he says, and Steve imagines hearing Tony's commentary during missions again, thinks about once more watching Iron Man soar into danger without much of a plan, and there's hope in Tony's casual comment.

“Okay,” Steve says.

Tony looks at him, a few seconds dressed up as an eternity, and months ago Tony would have made a joke right about now, would have smirked for just a split second before throwing himself back into battle. But now, he keeps silent about Steve's easy agreement.

Instead, he says, “We should get going,” and Steve can see the way resolve and determination takes hold of him, can see it in the stubborn bent of Tony's mouth and the lines deepening on his face. 

“Yeah,” he agrees, and he takes Tony in, and he knows that maybe they won't survive this, maybe this will end with one of them broken beyond repair, their luck finally running out.

“Schawarma, later?” he goes on, and it's a crazy offer, it's dumb, but he left Tony behind in Siberia, and he didn't tell him about the Winter Soldier and he can't walk away from him again, not this time.

Tony stares at him, and Steve thinks that everything will be fine if Tony agrees to it, that it would be a sign, a promise. And he says, “I could tell you about Wakanda. And you could tell me about that Spiderkid.” 

“He hates when somebody calls him that,” Tony replies, and there is something in his voice, something sharp yet curious; and it could be hope, could be the outline of them standing side by side again. Maybe, one day.

“So how many times did you call him that?” Steve asks, and he knows that there is no place for moments like this on a battlefield, knows that there is no time to joke and talk and hope and _standing still_ when the city is torn to pieces all around them. But just this once, he makes space.

Tony shrugs, the movement strangely natural in the suit. “Few times.”

Steve grins.

Tony looks away, looks out to the city, to the crater-flecked streets and the burned-out cars, the buildings with their windows shattered, hollow eyes that seem to watch them. It's a familiar scene but a new moment, and Steve wants to hold on to it, wants to turn it into a memory as sharp as a photograph. Something he can look at later, with the city saved and his people alive.

“It's a date,” Tony says, still not looking at Steve. There's a hint of missions past in his voice, a playfulness that Steve had missed, a memory of movie nights and early mornings in the kitchen, Steve sweaty from his run, Tony dishevelled and jittery, talking to JARVIS, mocking Steve.

Steve nods. “Could be.” It's the battle that makes him braver, it's Tony saving Bucky that urges him on, it's a stupid hope he never quite got rid of, not even after Siberia.

Tony turns to him then, looks at him for a long time, and Steve thinks that maybe he remembers those mornings, too, thinks that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't the only one who wanted to reach out and touch, who wants to reach out now.

"Okay," Tony says, and there's something soft to his face, something soft in his voice. Not quite like forgiveness, maybe not ever, but it's there, and for this moment it is enough.

"Okay," Steve agrees. 

The faceplate comes down then, turning Tony back into Iron Man. Steve holds still when he reaches out for him, the grip of the gauntlets steady and sure.

And they fly back into the fire.


End file.
